Afghan civilian deaths rose to 2,412 in 2009

Civilian casualties in the Afghan war have risen significantly in 2009, compared with the previous year, to 2,412, the highest number since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

According to a statement released Wednesday by the UN’s Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA), 2,412 Afghan civilians have been killed by insurgents and NATO-led troops in the war-torn country during 2009.

The number represented a 14 percent increase over 2008, when the UN recorded 2,118 civilian deaths.

The report says that the number of civilians killed by the international forces in 2009 reached 596.

“2009 was the worst year in recent times for civilians affected by the armed conflict,” the report said, adding: “UNAMA HR (human rights) recorded the highest number of civilian casualties since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.”

“The intensification and spread of the armed conflict in Afghanistan continued to take a heavy toll on civilians throughout 2009,” the report said.

The world body called on all parties involved in the conflict to maintain their obligations under the international law and to ‘minimize the impact of the conflict on civilians as we begin 2010’.

More than 110,000 international troops are currently based in Afghanistan, including about 68,000 US troops.